As You Like It at the Classic Stage Company

Wow, ok this is crazy. I literally felt the exact reverse of every single sentence in your post, haha! 

I usually can't stand John Doyle, but I found this production to be utterly delightful. I thought that almost the entire cast was excellent, with the exception of Burstyn, whom I thought was very wooden and seemed bored. The audience was highly engaged when I saw it, and there was a really lovely, fun atmosphere throughout. The actors were playing off the audience very nicely, and the audience seemed to be loving it. For me, the 105 minutes flew by. And I thought the design was beautiful and magical, and one of the elements of the production that drew me in the most. I thought Stephen Schwartz's music worked well, though it wasn't especially memorable. 

I won't go so far as to say that this is John Doyle's best work, but I will say this is definitely my personal favorite that I've seen (I did not see his Sweeney, but I DID see The Color Purple).

Talk about a matter of taste! Even after years of posting on this site, it still sometimes amazing me how people can have such polar opposite reactions to the same thing. But I guess that's the wonderful thing about art! 

Updated On: 9/19/17 at 09:59 PM

I spoke to some people around me afterwards and the reaction seemed polarized, but I will say that I heard very little laughter during the show from the whole audience. 

Perhaps my really strong aversion to the production stems from the fact that I think that Shakespearean dialogue follow by a *gasp* anachronistic moment of clowning as a method of telegraphing to the audience that this is where they should laugh to be thoroughly eye roll-inducing and that was basically where eighty percent of the attempted comedy of this production came from. Also, for me As You Like It is Rosalind and Rosalind is As You Like It so the relative de-emphasis from her character in the production made the whole affair rather pointless to me.

Burstyn worked well for me because she was the first actress I've seen play Jacques as truly melancholic instead of just dark and dour and it felt more true to the intent of the character.

A promotional photo from this production actually wound up on the "PR is Difficult" Tumblr. Its moderator commented that Ellen Burstyn was looking for "the sweet release of death" or something like that.

Incidentally, it is a hilarious site. Link

I'm with JBroadway on this one.  I thought the production was delightful, with splendid performances all around, especially from Hannah Cabell, and Kyle Scatliffe.  Burstyn is giving an understated performance, to be sure, but *not* (IMO) wooden and certainly not sleepwalking, lost or confused. 

The set is minimal, certainly--I found the lights effective, but not...genius, exactly.  The crowd last night was engaged and enthusiastic, and I overheard nothing but positive comments on the way out.  

It has been a long time since I read the play--perhaps I should have done so before heading in--and it did take me a while--20 minutes?--to get traction on the plot points, the language, etc., but once I did, the evening flew.  As the story began to wrap up, I actually felt a pang of regret that the show was coming to an end--I could have danced all night. 

ETA: I agree with Alfie6, however, that the--sporadic and rather extraneous--music in NO way gives a sense of this as a "jazz age" production.  There is nothing 'Jazz Age-y' going on here at all.  That is not to the show's detriment, but it does speak either to a failure by the creative team to achieve a goal they set for themselves or a profoundly mis-guided marketing campaign. 

 

Updated On: 9/23/17 at 12:35 PM

Green really did not like it in his review for the Times, and I must say that he gets it 100% right here.